The Scottish midfielder has twice been voted Derby's player of the year but has not been a first-team regular so far this term.

Asked about the deal, Rowett told RamsTV: "It was really difficult. I spoke to Bryse and we didn't have some of the offers we felt we'd have for other players, so at that point we needed to generate something.

"Bryse has not been playing and we felt we could add a different type of player in there.

Craig Bryson

"Reluctantly, we've done that deal, because we can't have 28, 29 players in the building.

"Bryse was desperate to play games and we weren't sure he'd get that opportunity soon, so we've done that deal but it wasn't an easy deal to do, with his history at the club."

Bryson has made 244 appearances for Derby since joining from Kilmarnock in 2011, scoring 39 goals.